The Blackhawk boys' and girls' basketball teams began a stretch of 11 straight conference games Tuesday which will go a long way to shape what fans may hope to see in the postseason.
The state's fifth-ranked girls 4A team Farmington and the Farmington boys 21st-state-ranked team came in last night into Pea Ridge to get the ball rolling. They will then play successive games against Prairie Grove there, Shiloh there, Gravette here, Berryville there, Harrison here, Gentry there, Farmington there, Prairie Grove here, Huntsville here, with the season concluding at Gravette on Valentines Day, Feb. 14.
Since the Arkansas Activities Association, in all their wisdom, decided to make the six 4A leagues uneven in the teams assigned to each district, the 4A-1 district wound up with nine members. To be able to fit the games into the schedule, it was decided to break the conference into divisions, East and West.
Pea Ridge and all the teams of the West Division, will play each fellow divisional team twice in a home and home arrangement. West Team schools will play each team from the East Division in single games, making a 12-game schedule. The old schedule in the eight-team district had a 14-game schedule with each team playing the other twice.
At season's end, the District Tournament will be seeded using divisional results to set the path. The District Tournament has the purpose of determining which four teams of the district will advance to the North Regional Tournament, pitting the four from the 4A-1 against the top four from the 4A-4, with that tournament deciding which four teams qualify for the state tournament.
The sky is the limit for both the boys and girls teams. They have neither one played their best basketball of the season although there have been stretches up to now where the talent and potential makes for a powerful upside for Heath Neal's girls and Trent Loyd's boys.
The next six weeks will be a lot of fun to watch.
4A-1 Conference
standings
Girls
West Division
Farmington^1-0
Gentry^1-0
Pea Ridge^0-1
Gravette^0-1
Prairie Grove^0-1
East Division
Harrison^1-0
Berryville^1-0
Huntsville^0-1
Shiloh^0-0
4A-1 Conference
Standing
Boys
West Division
Pea Ridge^1-0
Gravette^2-1
Farmington^1-1
Prairie Grove^0-1
Gentry^0-1
East Division
Huntsville^1-0
Harrison^1-0
Berryville^0-1
Shiloh^0-0
4A North Girls
Region poll
1. Harrison^15-1
2. Farmington^14-2
3. Pea Ridge^13-2
4. Berryville^11-3
5. Gentry^14-0
6. Ozark^12-3
7. Gravette^8-5
8. Pottsville^6-5
4A North Boys
Region poll
1. Morrilton^9-4
2. Dardanelle^14-0
3. Huntsville^10-4
4. Gentry^13-2
5. Pea Ridge^9-4
6. Berryville^10-4
7. Farmington^6-5
8. Harrison^8-9
MaxPreps/CBS State
4A Poll Girls Top 25
1. Batesville^14-0^--
2. Pulaski^10-2^+1
3. Star City^13-0^-1
4. Harrison^15-1^+1
5. Farmington^14-2^-1
6. Southside^11-3^--
7. Pea Ridge^13-2^+2
8. Berryville^11-3^-1
9. Gentry^14-0^+1
10. DeQueen^9-2^-2
11. Ozark^12-3^+3
12. Gravette^8-5^--
13. Magnolia^6-2^--
14. Pottsville^6-5 +6
15. Pocahontas^7-2 +1
16. Robinson^7-2 +6
17.Heber Springs^10-4 -6
18. Stuttgart^9-5^-1
^^Wynne^6-3
19. Bauxite^10-5^-4
^^Brookland^5-6
20. Nashville^5-4^+4
^^Pottsville^4-4
21. Morrilton^8-4^+2
^^Valley View^4-6
22. Brookland^5-7^-3
^^Robinson^5-5
23. Valley View^4-7^-2
24. Wynne^7-5^-6
25. Warren^4-6 --
34. Shiloh^7-8^+1
36. Prairie Grove^5-7^--
38. Huntsville^3-12^+1
MaxPreps/CBS State
4A Poll Boys Top 25
1. Blytheville^13-2^+1
2. Mills^1-2^-1
3. Magnolia^8-0^+2
4. Valley View^10-2^-1
5. Westside^8-3^-1
6. Pulaski^6-3^+5
7. Morrilton^9-4^-1
8. eStem^13-6^+1
9. Dardanelle^14-0^-2
10. Robinson^9-4^+2
11. Arkadelphia^12-2^-3
12.Batesville^11-3^-2
13. Malvern^10-2^+3
14. Huntsville^10-4^--
15. Gentry^13-2^-2
16. Monticello^8-4^+6
17. Pea Ridge^9-4^-2
18. Star City^9-3^--
19. Nashville^5-2^-2
20. Berryville^10-4^-1
21. Farmington^6-5^-1
22. Harrison^8-9^+3
23. Brookland^5-8^--
24. Warren^6-4^-3
25. Shiloh^7-5^+4
28. Prairie Grove^6-6^--
27. Gravette^7-5^+2
Girls NWA Area Top 15 Poll
1. Fayetteville^9-3
2. Greenwood^9-2
3. Ft. Smith Northside^10-3
4. Farmington^14-2
5. Bentonville^10-1
6. Pea Ridge^13-2
7. Springdale HarBer^10-3
8. Lamar^13-1
9. Charleston^11-2
10. Gentry^14-0
11. Rogers Heritage^7-5
12. Ozark^12-3
13. Gravette^8-5
14. Rogers^8-4
15. Van Buren^6-7
Boys NWA Area Top 15 Poll
1. Rogers^11-0
2. HarBer^9-2
3. Ft.Smith Northside^8-4
4. Fayetteville^9-5
5. Dardanelle^14-0
6. Siloam Springs^7-3
7. Bentonville^9-3
8. Elkins^14-1
9. Waldron^12-3
10. Rogers Heritage^7-5
11. Huntsville^10-4
12. Lavaca^16-3
13. Gentry^13-2
14. Springdale^6-4
15. Pea Ridge^9-4
•••
Editor's note: John McGee, an award-winning columnist, sports writer and art teacher at Pea Ridge elementary schools, writes a regular sports column for The Times. The opinions expressed are those of the writer. He can be contacted through The Times at [email protected].
Sports on 01/08/2020